- 30 -

in due course, although 2 Czechs and 1 Frenchman survived for special reasons until July, most of the Poles were repatriated in April and May, and the Yugoslavs were transferred to Camp Mattenberg the same month. One hundred and thirty Latvians were brought to Junkers Camp in Jue from Siedlung Camp, Allendorf.

The DP Officer agreed in September to send the hundred-odd Estonians to Camp Mattenberg and to replace them with Latvians, but the Estonians begged to stay and were permitted to remain.

In December, a conference was held in the Area Director's office between several Soviet Liaison Officers and the camp Director and other team members to discuss the possibility of repatriating Balts. It was the opinion of some of the UNRRA members present that no large scale repatriation could be expected until normal mail service is restored and representative Balts from the camps are permitted to return to their countries and come back to Germany to report their findings to their fellow countrymen.

Mrs.1 Laborde made it very clear to the camp committee that there must be no anti-repatriation ativity of any sort on their part or the part of the DPs. One Latvian was repatriated during 1946.

Condition of Junkers Camp in January, 1946 

When Mme. Laborde took over Junkers on January 2nd., it was rated a very good camp according to the standards which prevailed at that stage of the operation, but files, records and accountability procedure generally were extremely defective, black marketing was rife, and the feature of the camp which most depressed Mme. Laborde was the feeling that the DPs could do what they wanted without any regard to its effect on the community. The first job the new arrivals set themselves was to set up controls where none existed and to tighten up those already in use.

Clothing.


1This inconsistency, instead of "Mme.", appears in the original.
This content transcribes an original report of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), a separate copy of which is filed in the United Nations Archives (UNA), Reference number: S-1021-0081-05, Title: Monographs - DP-US 20 - Displaced Persons - United States Zone (Germany) - Histories of Individual Camps - History Report No. 30, Report: Baltin Camp in Bettenhausen, Kassel by D. F. McGonigal, Date: April 13, 1945. The UNA grants rights to reproduce with attribution. Additionally, this content is protected as a derivative work under Latvian Copyright Law Chapter 2 § 5 ¶ 3 and as part of a collection under Chapter 3 § 5 ¶ 1.2.
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